Letter box



' Aug. 31

G. F. STEELE, JR

LETTER BOX Filed July 16, 1924 a M o u 1 0 0 w l P X1 0 0 W n m)? @Mgm,

Patented Aug. 31, 1926.

UNITED STATE PATENT O-FFIQE,

GBDVEF. STEELE, JR., OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THEAMERICAN HARDWARE CORPORATION, OF CONNECTICUT.

NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF LETTER BOX.

Application filed July 16, 1924.

My invention relates to the class of devices employed in connection withthe delivery of mail matter by letter carriers, and an object of myinvention, among others, is the provision of receptacles that shall beextremely convenient for the placing of mail matter therein by theletter carrier and from which the mail matter may be readily removed bythe individual, such receptacles being especially adapted to receivemail matter of considerable length, such as magazines, and which may besecured against unauthorized extraction.

One form of box embodying my invention and in the construction and useof which the objects herein set out, as well as others, may be attained,is illustrated in the accompany ing drawings, in which t Figure l is afront view of a letter box embodying my invention, one of the doors forthe removal of mail being shown as open.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the mail delivery doors as open.

Figure 8 is a view in section 011 a plane denoted by the dotted line 3-3of Figure 1.

It is common practice at the present time in the delivery of mail atresidences and to lndividuals to provide receptacles to receive suchmail, and certain rules are laid down by the Post Oflice Department toprovide for ready distribution of the mail by letter carriers. It isalso essential that the receptacles shall be so constructed as toreceive all of the mail usually delivered by a letter carrier and tosafeguard such mail from all unauthorized extraction. It is furthermoreimportant that the mail deposited by the letter carrier may be easilyand readily removed by the recipient. The invention illustrated anddescribed herein provides such a mail box, in the accompanying drawingsthe numeral 5 indicating the body of the box that is preferably composedof a back, top, bottom and two sides. This is commonly formed fromsheet, metal in any desirable manner, and in many cases a number ofthese boxes are combined in a single structure, this being particularlyconvenient for use in apartment houses where many individuals are to besupplied with mail, and these boxes at the present time are com- SerialNo. 725,273.

6 that is proof the building in which the letter carrier may distributehis mail with a minimum loss of time, a lock for a plurality of doors isprovided so that by unlocking this single lock the doors to the deliveryopenings to a plurality of boxes are released. As hereinbefore mentionedthese delivery or service doors 8 are located at the upper end of thefront of the mail box and they are each provided with a hinge 9 locatedpreferably at the lower edge. A look 10 is secured to both. of the doorsin any suitable manner, the bolt 11 of the lock being adapted to engagea keeper 12. By means of this construction the letter carrier by the useof a single key, releases all of the doors and opens them at once andafter insertion of the mail matter the doors are both simultaneouslyclosed and locked. While the illustration herein is with respect to twomail boxes having two doors, 1 contemplate an extension of the idea tostructures containing more than two mail CO111- partments andconsequently having more than two doors, more than two of which may becontrolled by a single lock and all of which may be simultaneouslyopened.

Doors 18 are provided for each of the compartments at the bottomthereof, said doors also being hinged at the bottom edge as at 14 andeach of these doors may be provided with a lock 15 controlled by theperson in possession of the taining this door.

Boxes of the kind contemplated hereby are commonly located in recessesin the walls of buildings, said recesses being made to receive saidboxes, and the construction of the walls often imposes conditions suchas to limit the thickness of the box to such a degree as to prevent theready insertion and removal of mail matter of the longer receptacle con-J: in g closed sorts, such as magazines, periodicals &c., such matter,if the box is limited in thickness to a degree imposed by the thicknessof the walls of the building and not proly beyond the front face of suchwall, niaking contact with the inner surface of the btlQK of the box andthe edge o f the opening thereinto, this causing such matter to becomewedged and requiring it to be bent or broken before it can be insertedin or taken out through an opening in the box. In order that such.matter may be placed in the box through the upper door and may bereadily taken from the openby the lower door, I have provided meansembodying my invention, and illustrated anddcscribed herein, wherebyreceptacles of a thickness not undesirably great er than the depth ofthe recesses in which they 11 .y be contained are employed, the front ofthe box being so arranged that the longer pieces of mail matter, whendeposited through the upper door will not be brought into close contactwith the back of the box, and when removed through the lower door suchmatter will not be wedged between the lower opening and the back of thebox.

in adapting my invention to overcome the objections hereinbefore noted 1construct my improved nuun depth at such points that the longer piecesof mail matter will not be wedged as they are turned from the obliqueposition assumed when being placed in the box to a reversed obliqueposition when they are taken from the box. To accomplish this result Imake the box or receptacle of a minimum width from front to back atabout its lengthwise center and from this point it is flared outwardlyon curved lines as at 17 and 18, towards the upper and lower ends of thefront. From the edge of the portion 17 the door 8 comprising the upperportion of the front of the be); slants backwardly to a point where ittouches the top which is of a width from front to back substantiallythat of the minimum thickness of the box. The lower door 1 3 is formedon a curve extending from the upper edge of the opening closed therebyoutwardly for a short distance and then inwardly to the point ofattachmentto the box, such bottom, the top and lengthwisecentralportions of the box being of a dimension from front torearsubstantially that of the minimum width of the structure,,and such boxis, therefore, flush box or receptacle of a mini at the top and bottomthereof with the front surface of the structure in which the recess 6 isformed, and the box may thus be located in a recess of minimum widthwithout an undesirable projection therefrom.

It will thus be seen that the outwardly flaring portion 17 enables thelonger pieces of mail matter to be inserted obliquely through the upperopening without undue contact with the back of the box until the lowerend of such matter rests upon the bottom of the boX at the back thereof,and the outwardl T flared curved portion 18 enables such long pieces ofmail matter to be grasped by a person reaching through the openingclosed by the lower door to reverse the oblique positions thereof and toremove such matter through such opening without undue wedging by contactwith the back of the box and the edge of the opening closed by the lowerdoor.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes I havedescribed the principles of operation of my invention, together with thedevice which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof,but I desire to have it understood that the device shown is onlyillustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other meansand applied'to uses other than those above set out.

I claim- 1. A receptacle including a front wall with an opening thereinfor the passage of mail therethrough at one end of the receptacle, saidWall sloping toward and to the boundary of said opening, and a secondopening at the opposite end of said receptacle for the passage of mail,said sloping wall permitting the passage of mail in one directionthrough one of said openings and also the passage of said mail in theopposite direction through the other of said openings without wedgingbetween the edges of the openings and the back of the receptacle.

fr receptacle including a front located generally at substantially rightangles to the top and bottom thereof, said front having an opening atthe top and at the bottom thereof, and said front being curved andhaving a portion flaring outwardly toward each of saidopenings to permitthe insertion and removal of long articles without wedging between theedges of said openings and back of the receptacle.

GROVE F. STEELE, JR.

